Success Tips
Want to be more successful in your business? Check out these tips contributed by WESO members and monthly program speakers.
Handling Meltdown by Rob Hambleton
Self-Employment Tax by Kathleen Crawford
Tips for Participating in Trade Shows by Patricia
Bean and Cathie Izor
Working the Room: Networking at Meetings and Events by
Cathie Izor
Setting Fees For a Service Business by Cathie Izor
Increase Your Referral Power by Jimmie Smith
Improving Your Listening Skills: Monologue or Dialogue? by
Sandy Abell
Who Is Your Market? by Sandy Abell
Handling Meltdown
"Do not judge, and you will never be mistaken." —Jean Jacques Rousseau
There are times for all of us when all of the bad things seem to happen at once—the planets all align—against us it seems—and lead to a full-on meltdown that drives us into a panic. Business results are bad or we lose several customers in a few days. Several employees suddenly decide to leave. We just get a stream of bad news. What should we do? Here are a few thoughts on how to handle things when this happens. Learn more...
Self-Employment Tax
Many self-employed individuals are shocked and dismayed when they see their annual income tax bill. This is because they must pay self-employment taxes in addition to income taxes. Many feel that they are being unfairly taxed compared to other people. However, there's more to the story. This article describes the self-employment tax and shows how it compares to the taxes paid by wage earners. Learn more...
Tips for Participating in Trade Shows
If you set up a table or staff a booth at a trade show, here are tips for making your display and participation more effective. Also, check out the photos from previous WESO Networking Fairs. Learn more...
Working the Room: Networking at Meetings and Events
Do you attend business events or meetings where you would like to promote your business one-on-one with other attendees? Are you unsure of the best way to do this or would you like to improve your technique? Here are suggestions to make the best use of your networking time at these events. Learn more...
Setting Fees for a Service Business
(adapted with permission from “Seven Ways to Set Fees” and “Calculating Minimum Hourly Fee” by Nancy Shepherdson)
Setting the right prices is a tough part of running a business, as I learned in a class taught by Barrington, Illinois, business writer, Nancy Shepherdson. If you sell a manufactured product, you start by tracking the cost of producing that product. It’s usually pretty easy to track cost of materials, overhead and employee labor (if your business has employees). However, you also have to consider a pesky element: your time. How much is your time worth? How much do you need to earn? Learn more...
Increase Your Referral Power
Educate Others About Your Business
Who is the easiest person for you to refer? Could it be the person whose business and/or occupation you understand the best?
Make it easy for others to refer business to you by helping them understand what you do. Then they can easily communicate that to others when making a referral to you. So work on a clear, concise “job description” for yourself and then describe how you can meet the needs of others. I think you will find a lot more people referring you when they can easily understand what you do and can communicate that to others.
Get More from the Business Cards You Collect
My first tip is one of the simplest: when you receive a business card from someone, immediately write on the back of the card the thing you want to remember about that person. This way, when you return to your office with 15 business cards, you'll know what each one was for. Here are some examples:
- you wanted to refer them to another contact of yours
- you wanted to get some information out to them
- they know someone you have been wanting to meet
- they had a referral for you and you want to be sure to follow up on it
The examples are unlimited, and so are the benefits. This helps you remember the person and follow up on those you meet while you're out in the "field."
Think Referrals ALL the Time
You need to have a "referral mindset." When you are speaking to friends or clients, you are always thinking of how you can better serve them by meeting a need of theirs. Because we are women, people often share a lot more with us than they typically would with a man in the same position. Use that to your advantage and make a win-win-win-win out of the situation.
- Win #1: You win because you're adding value to that relationship.
- Win #2: The people you're referring win because now they have a possible solution to a problem they have.
- Win #3: The people who are receiving your referrals win because they now have a new contact.
- Win #4: And you win again because all those people will want to reciprocate and you'll start getting referrals from them.
Your referral mindset needs to be active all the time, not just to solve problems that only relate to your business. Help someone with any need that the person may have, such as a dirty carpet, a vehicle maintenance problem, or not being pleased with their last haircut. Let's start winning for everyone with a referral mindset.
Be “Referrable”
If you want people to refer you, you need to make yourself “referrable.” Do what you say you will do, return calls, and follow-up when you need to. Right now, can you think of someone you should have called or reconnected with and you just haven't done it? Do it at the next possible opportunity and continue doing it. If your words and your actions are consistent, people will refer you, but if they are not, people will not take a chance. If you have not been receiving the number of referrals you want, work on being more “referrable.”
Communicate Back to Your Referral Sources
Follow-up on the referrals you receive. As you progress through the sales process, keep the person who gave you the referral informed on how it's going—to the extent you can without giving up confidential information. By doing this, you will encourage the person giving you the referral that it was productive. You will educate that referral source on what types of referrals work best for you. And, it gives you the opportunity to further define your referral process. Good communication with your referral sources will only foster more referrals.
Improving Your Listening Skills: Monologue or Dialogue?
A few nights ago I was in a social situation where several people were talking in a group. I noticed that everyone had something to say, and they all couldn’t wait to say it. As soon as one person made a statement or shared some bit of information, another person jumped in and expressed their thoughts or experiences, without acknowledging what the first person had said. Then another would do the same.
Nobody responded to what others said except to use it as a springboard for their own monologue. As a result, nobody really heard what anyone else was saying. Each one was too busy thinking about and sharing his/her own thoughts to hear what the others in the group had said. Everyone thought they were having a dialogue, but what was really going on was a series of monologues. Very little communication or connection was taking place.
Does This Lack of Connection Sound Familiar?
Have you ever been in a situation like this? In a two-person conversation or a group setting, where people think they are communicating and sharing, but what is really happening is that everyone is talking and nobody is listening?
You may want to ask yourself if this is something you do. Do you talk, or listen? Are you attentive to the speaker, or focused internally on what you’re going to say when they stop speaking? Do you have dialogues or deliver monologues?
People often think that to be a good conversationalist you have to speak eloquently and be the focus of attention. However, the best conversationalists are the ones who ask questions, express true interest in others, listen and respond to the answers. Always remember that good conversationalists don’t talk, they listen!
What Happens When You Listen?
Whether you are conversing with your clients/customers, employees, family or friends, the greatest gift you can give people is to pay attention to what they are saying. To not only listen, but to hear. You will learn a lot about who they are and what they need, want, think or feel. As a result, the speaker will feel validated and understood, and will be much more inclined to have a positive relationship with you.
So How Can You Make People Feel Heard?
There are several things you can do to ensure you’re having a dialogue instead of a monologue. Some of them are:
- Be fully present and pay complete attention to the speaker. This means maintain eye contact and ignore any distractions in the room.
- Focus on what is being said, NOT what you are going to say when the speaker finishes talking.
- Clarify what you are hearing by rephrasing what you’ve understood them to say, and asking more questions.
- Be aware of your “body language”. Face the speaker, nod your head occasionally to show you are receiving their message, hold your body in a comfortable position with your arms relaxed, smile and maintain eye contact.
- Be curious. Want to know more. When the speaker has finished a thought, ask a question or make a comment to encourage him/her to elaborate on what they have said.
(For a free comprehensive list of listening skills, go to our website at www.insidejobscoach.com and click on Resources.)
So, how will you know if you’re being a good listener? How will you know if you’ve participated in a dialogue or a monologue? The test is to note when you leave a conversation what new things you’ve discovered about the people you were talking with. If you haven’t discovered anything new about them you have probably not been listening. Think about it.
Who Is Your Market?
Last week I was talking with a new client named Jennifer, who was bemoaning the fact that she does “all kinds of marketing” but just doesn’t seem to get much response.
When I asked Jennifer who she markets to, she answered, “Everyone.”
Jennifer figured that if she tried to reach “everyone”, then she’d probably score with someone. However, it wasn’t working as she’d planned.
Narrow It Down
After some discussion Jennifer decided to narrow down her marketing to her “target market,” the people who actually need, want, and can afford her services. In order to do this, she first had to identify who these people are.
She began by answering the following questions.
- Who is your target market? (What is their age, financial status, geographic location, gender, and what they need from you?)
- Is this market getting larger or smaller?
- Do customers in this market spend money on products and services like yours? Do they spend enough money to make it worthwhile to sell to them?
- What important trends are happening in the market?
- Who are your main competitors?
- What kind of media (print, radio, television, internet, etc.) do your potential buyers pay attention to?
- What Web sites do they visit?
- What trade associations do they belong to?
- Who are the key opinion makers? Can you influence them?
- What are people in your market talking about right now?
Once Jennifer answered these questions she realized that she actually had a much smaller group of people on which to focus her marketing attention and dollars. She now also knows what they read, listen to and watch, and has a much better idea of how to connect with them. Jennifer has realized that she doesn’t want to reach “everyone,” she just wants to reach a select few who need or want her services and have the finances to afford them.
So, how much do you know about your target market? What is the best way to reach them? Are you focusing on “everyone”, or do you know who will benefit most from what you have to offer? Who is your target market?